UPDATE 3/8 5:53 pm:According to the twitter account of Nuggets beat writer Benjamin Hochman, one source said Kenyon Martin will return this season. That is one anonymous source, so please sprinkle that tweet heavily with salt, but it does run contrary to the conventional wisdom on Martin.

3/6 9:55 pm: In what seems to be a sudden epidemic with NBA teams, the Denver Nuggets are not being very honest about what is going on with Kenyon Martin’s knee.

Martin is out with what the Nuggets are officially calling patella tendonitis in the left knee. He had an MRI and the Nuggets are officially going to be looking at it through the weekend, then a decision will be made on what to do next, according to Chris Tomasson at Fanhouse.

If the MRI showed simple tendonitis, would a bunch of doctors need to consult on the next step?

Martin himself didn’t sound like someone who though t it was tendonitis. Here are his quotes at Fanhouse.

“I’m not going to play until I get a definite answer,” Martin said. “I’m not going to go out and not know until they tell me one way or another … I’m not going to jeopardize long term or whatever the case might be, not knowing what it is. The pain is there. It ain’t going nowhere, so we’ll see.

“Just trying to stay optimistic that it ain’t nothing serious,” Martin said. “I’m just waiting to hear what (doctors) got to say. Then we’re just going to come together and whatever the best course of action will be, whether it’s rest, whatever the case may be.

“If they tell me that it’s something more serious than I think it is and I got to get surgery, then I got to do that. But, if they say I can rest and let it heal and I can play, I’m going to do that … I ain’t thinking the worse. I don’t know. I’m just trying to stay level-headed.”

If Martin is out for an extended period, it will be tough for the Nuggets (who also have reserve shot blocking specialist Chris Anderson playing through knee tendonitis, but notice they are having him try to play through the pain as much as possible). Especially if that extends into the playoffs, where they could face suddenly-hot Dallas and the very big front line of the Lakers. Denver will need a healthy Martin in both those series.